Strength Training Does Not Make You Slow

Why the persistent military belief that lifting makes you slow is biomechanically wrong - and how properly programmed strength makes soldiers faster, more efficient, and more durable.

Within military culture, there is a persistent belief that lifting heavy weights will make a soldier slower. Many people will avoid structured strength training because they worry about becoming bulky, stiff, or losing endurance.

Instead, they prioritise long runs, circuits, and bodyweight sessions in the hope of preserving their speed and stamina.

The intention is understandable, but hope is not a strategy. Military roles demand endurance, mobility, and the ability to move efficiently under load. However, the belief that strength training undermines these qualities is based on a misunderstanding of how physical performance actually works.

In reality, properly programmed strength training is one of the most effective ways to improve speed, endurance, and durability.

The key lies in understanding the role of force production, movement economy, and tissue resilience.

Performance begins with force production

Every physical movement begins with force.

When you run, sprint, jump, climb, or carry equipment, your body must apply force into the ground. The ground then returns that force back through the body, allowing you to propel yourself forward.

The more force you can absorb and produce relative to your bodyweight, the more efficiently you can move.

Strength training improves the muscles and movement patterns responsible for producing this force. When the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps become stronger, each step becomes more powerful.

This does not necessarily mean that you take bigger strides or expend more energy. Instead, it means that each stride requires less relative effort.

For example:

• A weaker athlete may need to operate close to their maximum effort simply to maintain a steady pace.

• A stronger athlete can produce the same output while working at a lower percentage of their maximum capacity.

This difference becomes particularly important during long runs, loaded marches, and tactical tasks where fatigue accumulates over time.

A stronger body is simply far more economical.

How does strength improve running economy?

Running economy refers to how efficiently a person uses energy while running at a given pace.

Research consistently shows that stronger athletes demonstrate better running economy (Storen et al. 2008; Beattie et al. 2014). This means they require less oxygen and less metabolic effort to maintain the same speed.

Strength training contributes to this improvement in several ways:

• Improved force application - stronger muscles apply force into the ground more effectively, reducing wasted movement.

• Reduced ground contact time - increased strength allows the body to transition through each step more rapidly.

• Better posture and stability - stronger hips and core muscles help maintain efficient running mechanics over long distances.

In applicable terms, this means a stronger soldier can maintain pace with less perceived effort and is more resistant to fatigue during prolonged activity than a weaker soldier.

Tendon stiffness and energy return

Muscles are only part of the equation of propulsion and energy conservation.

Tendons act like springs within the body. When the foot contacts the ground, tendons store elastic energy and then release it during the push-off phase of movement.

Stronger tendons are able to store and release more energy efficiently. This improves movement efficiency and reduces energy loss during repetitive actions such as running or marching.

Strength training stimulates adaptations within these connective tissues, gradually increasing their stiffness and resilience.

This results in:

• Better sprinting ability.

• Improved jumping and climbing performance.

• More efficient running mechanics.

• Reduced injury risk.

These changes occur slowly and need respect when it comes to training progression. Tendons adapt at a much slower rate than muscles, often taking several months to strengthen significantly, even without any underlying injury. However, once developed, these adaptations provide substantial performance benefits.

Neuromuscular coordination

Strength training also improves the communication between the nervous system and the muscles. This process is known as neuromuscular adaptation.

When a person first begins lifting weights, improvements in strength often occur before significant muscle growth. This is because the nervous system becomes more efficient at recruiting muscle fibres and coordinating movement patterns.

Improved neuromuscular coordination leads to:

• Faster reaction times.

• Better balance and stability.

• More powerful acceleration.

• More efficient movement patterns.

These adaptations directly translate to improved performance in military tasks such as sprinting, climbing obstacles, carrying equipment, and changing direction quickly.

How strength training reduces injury risk in soldiers

One of the most overlooked benefits of strength training is its role in injury prevention.

Military populations experience high rates of overuse injuries, particularly in the lower limbs, such as:

• Shin splints.

• Stress fractures.

• Patellar tendon pain.

• Achilles tendon injuries.

• Hip and lower back pain.

Many of these injuries occur because tissues are repeatedly exposed to loads they are not strong enough to tolerate.

"The demand placed on the tissues / structures exceeds their capacity."

Strength training increases the capacity of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones to handle stress. As a result, the body becomes more resilient to the repetitive loading that occurs during running, tabbing, and field exercises.

This resilience is critical in military environments where training volumes can increase rapidly, and recovery opportunities are often limited.

A stronger body is not only faster, but it is also far more durable and less likely to fail during exercises and training.

Will strength training make you bulky?

The fear of becoming excessively bulky from strength training is largely unfounded for most soldiers.

Significant muscle hypertrophy requires:

• High training volumes.

• Specific bodybuilding-style programming.

• Large caloric surpluses.

• Long periods of recovery.

Military personnel rarely train under these conditions. Operational demands, conditioning work, and daily physical activity make large increases in muscle mass unlikely.

Instead, most soldiers experience improvements in relative strength; the ability to produce more force without large increases in bodyweight.

This type of strength is highly beneficial for tactical performance.

Strength and endurance are not opposites

Another misconception is that strength and endurance exist at opposite ends of a spectrum.

In reality, the two qualities complement one another when programmed intelligently.

Strength provides the foundation for endurance. The stronger your muscles are, the lower the relative intensity of each movement becomes.

For example:

Table 1. The same operational task performed by a weaker versus stronger athlete. Stronger athletes operate further from their physiological maximum, which means fatigue accumulates more slowly.

This is why well-trained endurance athletes frequently include structured strength training within their programmes.

What lifts should soldiers actually do?

Not all strength training is equally useful for tactical performance. The lifts that earn their place are compound, multi-joint movements that build the qualities most relevant to operational tasks.

Table 2. The lifts that consistently earn the right to be in a tactical strength programme. Each delivers a specific transfer to operational performance.

What you don't need: machines that isolate muscles, biceps curls as a primary exercise, bench press as the dominant upper-body lift, or six different exercises rotated weekly. The body adapts to consistent stimulus on the right exercises, not to novelty.

How often should soldiers strength train?

The honest answer is fewer sessions than most people assume - typically two to three per week - but every session has to count.

Two principles govern frequency:

• Focus on compound movements. Compound exercises train multiple muscle groups and movement patterns simultaneously. These movements will ultimately most closely resemble the physical demands encountered during military roles. They develop coordination between muscle groups, improve trunk stability and force transfer, train movement patterns rather than individual muscles, and are time-efficient.

• Prioritise quality over volume. Strength training does not need to involve endless sets and exercises. Due to multiple performance facets being trained simultaneously, the volume needs to be carefully managed - pretty much a 'minimal effective dose' approach. A small number of high-quality sets performed with good technique is often sufficient to stimulate strength adaptations without creating excessive fatigue.

Typical sessions involve 3-5 sets per exercise, moderate to heavy loads, and full recovery between sets. This approach develops strength while preserving energy for running, conditioning, and other training.

A sample weekly programme

A realistic template for a serving soldier or selection candidate combining strength and conditioning:

Table 3. Sample weekly distribution combining strength, aerobic work, and operational specificity. Three strength sessions, two aerobic sessions, one operational specificity day (tab or carry), one rest day.

This is a base-building template. Specific phases (selection prep, post-injury return, deployment workup) require different distributions, but the principle holds: strength and aerobic work belong on different days where possible, the operational specificity (tabbing, loaded carries) happens once per week, and at least one full rest day allows adaptation.

Integrating strength and conditioning

The most effective training programmes do not treat strength and endurance as separate systems.

Instead, they integrate the two qualities so that they complement each other.

A balanced programme typically includes:

• Strength training to develop force production.

• Running and non-loaded conditioning to build aerobic capacity.

• Load carriage training to prepare for operational demands.

• Mobility work to maintain joint health and movement quality.

When these elements are combined intelligently, the result is a soldier who is not only faster but also stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for real-world tasks.

What are the common mistakes in strength training for soldiers?

Five errors regularly cap progress for serving and aspiring operators.

Avoiding strength training because of "getting bulky". As covered above, meaningful hypertrophy requires conditions soldiers rarely meet. The fear is largely fictional. The cost of acting on it is real - weaker, more injury-prone, less efficient under load.

Treating strength as an afterthought. Three sets of body-weight squats and some press-ups tacked onto the end of a run is not a strength programme. Strength needs its own dedicated sessions, at the front of the energy bank, two to three times per week.

Variety for variety's sake. Rotating six different lifts every fortnight produces neither strength nor mastery. The body adapts to consistent stimulus. Pick the right lifts, run them for blocks of 8-12 weeks, and progress the load gradually.

Going heavy on bench press, ignoring the back. Bench press has limited operational transfer. Strict pulling (rows, pull-ups), pressing (strict press, push press), and posterior chain (deadlift, RDL) deliver far more for the time invested. Aim for at least a 1:1 pulling-to-pressing volume ratio.

Failing to deload. Every fourth or fifth week, drop the strength volume by 30-40%. Most serving soldiers grind continuously and accumulate fatigue that caps adaptation. A planned deload prevents the unplanned injury that ends a build-up.

Strength is a performance multiplier for tactical athletes

At its core, strength training enhances efficiency.

A stronger athlete can produce the same movement output with less effort. This allows them to move faster, sustain performance for longer, and recover more effectively between efforts.

Rather than slowing a soldier down, strength training acts as a performance multiplier.

It improves running economy, increases power, strengthens connective tissues, and reduces injury risk.

These benefits accumulate over time, producing a more capable and durable athlete.

Conclusion

The belief that strength training makes soldiers slow is a myth rooted in outdated training ideas - and one that needs to die a death.

In reality, strength is the foundation of speed, endurance, and resilience.

When programmed properly, strength training improves running economy, enhances force production, strengthens connective tissues, and reduces injury risk. These adaptations allow soldiers to move faster, carry heavier loads more efficiently, and sustain performance during prolonged activity.

Strength training does not make you slow. It makes you more capable and durable.

Strength training for soldiers: frequently asked questions

Will lifting weights make me slower as a soldier?

No, the opposite is true if the strength training is programmed properly. Research consistently shows stronger athletes have better running economy, faster acceleration, and lower injury rates. The fear of getting "slower from lifting" usually comes from poorly programmed work that produces fatigue without the strength gain. Compound lifts, low-to-moderate volume, full recovery between sets, and 2-3 sessions per week produce a faster, more durable soldier not a slower one.

How much should I lift if I'm in the military?

Working capacity (the loads you actually use in training) should sit at roughly 70 to 85% of your 1-rep max for most working sets. The repetition ranges that produce the most useful tactical strength are 3-8 reps per set for the main lifts, 6-12 reps for accessories. Volume of 6-12 working sets per major muscle group per week, distributed across 2-3 sessions, is the standard productive range.

Can I do strength and cardio in the same session?

Yes, but order matters. Strength before cardio in the same session preserves strength quality. Cardio before strength compromises lifting performance. For the highest adaptation in both qualities, separate them by at least six hours (morning cardio, evening lifting) or onto different days. Concurrent training works when programmed deliberately - we have a separate article on the specifics.

What lifts are best for soldiers?

Five compound movements cover most of what matters: back squat, Romanian deadlift (or trap bar deadlift), strict press, pull-up, and loaded carries (farmer's, suitcase, trap-bar carries). Add rear-foot elevated split squats and heavy slow calf raises for unilateral and lower-limb resilience. These exercises deliver the highest transfer to running, tabbing, climbing, casualty drag, and weapons handling under fatigue.

How heavy should I lift?

Heavier than most soldiers do, lighter than the gym bros suggest. Working in the 70-85% of 1RM range with appropriate rep counts (3-8 reps for the main lifts) produces meaningful strength gains. Going to true failure on every set or singles every session produces fatigue and injury without proportional gain. For most lifters, sets stopped 1-3 reps short of failure across 3-5 sets is the productive range.

Will strength training make me bulky?

Almost certainly not, for most soldiers. Significant muscle gain requires sustained caloric surplus, high training volumes (typically 16-20+ sets per muscle group per week), and minimal interference from other training stressors. Military and tactical-athlete training rarely meets these conditions. Most soldiers experience improvements in relative strength - more force at similar bodyweight - which is exactly what operational performance needs.

Should soldiers train for hypertrophy?

In phases, yes. A focused hypertrophy block (8-12 weeks of higher-volume, moderate-load work in the 8-15 rep range) every 6-12 months can build the lean tissue that supports strength, resilience, and operational durability. Outside those blocks, training should sit in the strength end of the spectrum. The mistake to avoid is permanent bodybuilding-style programming. That's someone built for the mirror, not the course.

How often should soldiers strength train?

Two to three sessions per week is the standard productive range for most serving personnel and selection candidates. Two sessions cover maintenance and modest gain; three sessions accelerate progress without overloading concurrent aerobic and operational work. Above three sessions per week, recovery starts to compete with the rest of the training programme - usually unproductively.

Can I get strong without going to the gym?

Partially. Bodyweight and home equipment (kettlebells, sandbags, a pull-up bar) build a meaningful baseline. The constraint is progressive overload - bodyweight movements have a ceiling, and beyond that ceiling the body stops adapting. Serious strength development eventually needs serious external load. For deployed soldiers or those without gym access, training maintenance through bodyweight is realistic; meaningful strength build-up usually requires barbell access at some point.

What's the difference between strength training and bodybuilding for soldiers?

Different goals, different programming, different outcomes. Strength training prioritises maximum force production with compound lifts, lower rep ranges (3-8), and full recovery, producing a more capable mover. Bodybuilding prioritises muscle size with isolation exercises, higher rep ranges (8-15), and shorter rest, producing a more visually muscular athlete. Tactical athletes overwhelmingly benefit more from strength training as the primary approach, with selective hypertrophy blocks as accessory work.

References

Storen, O., Helgerud, J., Stoa, E. M., & Hoff, J. (2008). Maximal strength training improves running economy in distance runners. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(6), 1087-1092.

Beattie, K., Kenny, I. C., Lyons, M., & Carson, B. P. (2014). The effect of strength training on performance in endurance athletes. Sports Medicine, 44(6), 845-865.

Hickson, R. C. (1980). Interference of strength development by simultaneously training for strength and endurance. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 45(2-3), 255-263.

Lauersen, J. B., Bertelsen, D. M., & Andersen, L. B. (2014). The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(11), 871-877.

Bohm, S., Mersmann, F., & Arampatzis, A. (2015). Human tendon adaptation in response to mechanical loading. Sports Medicine.